
                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

      Central Freight Lines, Inc. Announces Expansion to Pacific Northwest
        Through Purchase of Assets of Eastern Oregon Fast Freight, Inc.
                         and Reduces Earnings Guidance

    WACO, Texas, March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Central Freight Lines,
Inc. (Nasdaq: CENF) today announced that it has accelerated its expansion into
the Pacific Northwest through a purchase of selected terminal network and
rolling stock of Eastern Oregon Fast Freight, Inc. ("EOFF"), a non-union less-
than-truckload ("LTL") carrier that operated 21 terminals (six owned and
15 leased) in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

    Central's President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Fasso, stated:  "For
quite some time, we have targeted the Pacific Northwest as a region for
expansion because of strong freight flows between the Northwest and our
existing regions and favorable competitive dynamics.  We had planned to
initiate service in the latter part of the second quarter of 2004 in a limited
number of locations.  During our evaluation of the region, we discovered the
opportunity to purchase EOFF's infrastructure and determined that we could
immediately fill out a sizeable footprint in key freight centers throughout
the region.  We believe EOFF offered a unique opportunity to obtain strategic
freight network assets."

    The selected assets of Eastern Oregon Fast Freight were purchased for
approximately $10.0 million, which was primarily composed of six owned
terminal properties.  The transaction is being financed through cash reserves.

    "Our original expansion plan into Oregon, Washington, and Idaho included
six terminals opening later in 2004.  Purchasing control of EOFF's 21 terminal
network in the first quarter of 2004 both accelerated and increased the depth
and scope of our expansion plans.  We believe this more aggressive expansion
offers long term benefits, but will have certain negative consequences that we
expect to be short term in nature.  Principally as a result, we expect
substantially lower earnings for the first quarter than our previous guidance
of $0.12 to $0.16 per diluted share.  The primary consequences include greater
expansion costs than for the smaller expansion we had anticipated and a
significant decline in interline revenue throughout our system, which we
believe is a reaction by other LTL carriers to our expanded competitive
presence.  On the conference call referenced below, we will provide guidance
for the first quarter and full year 2004."

    A conference call will be held at 10:30 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, March 17
for stockholders and the investment community.  Persons who wish to access and
participate in the call may do so by dialing 1-800-556-3831, pass code 00399.
Please dial in 5 to 10 minutes prior to the start of the call.  A live webcast
is also available at www.centralfreight.com, www.streetevents.com and
www.fulldisclosure.com.

    A telephone replay will be available after 2:30 p.m. (EST) on March 17.
To access the replay, dial 1-888-641-9060.  A replay of the call will also be
available on demand on the above referenced web sites.

    Central Freight Lines, Inc. is a non-union LTL carrier specializing in
regional overnight and second day markets.  One of the 10 largest regional LTL
carriers in the nation, Central provides regional, interregional, and
expedited services, as well as value-added supply chain management, throughout
the Midwest, Southwest, Northwest and West Coast.  Utilizing marketing
alliances, Central provides service solutions to the Great Lakes, Northeast,
Southeast, Mexico, and Canada.

     This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially.  These risks and uncertainties include the risks of revenue loss
in the acquired operation and difficulties in bringing on new revenue in the
region; the risk loss of interline revenue in all of our regions; the risk
that acquisition and integration expenses may exceed our expectations; the
risk that we do not obtain consents to assignment of all of the leased
facilities; and the risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including forms 8-K,
10-Q, 10-K, and our recently filed prospectus.


     For further information contact:

     Jeff Hale, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
     (480) 361-5295
     jhale@centralfreight.com





